Maria beat injury-hampered Lindsay Davenport 6-1 3-6 7-6 to win the Pan Pacific Open on Sunday.
The Russian converted her fourth match point to take the third set tiebreak 7-5 and halt Davenport's bid for a record fifth title at the $1.3 million event.



Sharapova's eighth career title means she will rise from fourth to third in the world rankings.



It had looked as though Sharapova would run away with the match as she took the first set in just 22 minutes.

Maria reached her first final this year by defeating Shinobu Asagoe of Japan today in Tokyo. 6-1 7-6


Maria was sharp from the beginning and had little trouble breezing through the set using strong serves and crisp ground strokes.


In the second set, world number 32 Asagoe was a different player as she rediscovered her serve and fought tirelessly to put pressure on her Russian opponent with some long rallies.


But in the tiebreak her sixth double-fault and a lucky ace by ...

Maria Sharapova has overpowered fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 6-3 to advance to the Pan Pacific Open semi-finals.



Second seed Sharapova, beaten by Serena Williams in the Australian Open semi-finals last week, was never seriously tested in a one-sided match on Tokyo's indoor carpet.



The 17-year-old repeatedly punished Likhovtseva's weak serve and closed out the match with a ferocious backhand pass after 64 minutes.



Sharapova will play Japan's Shinobu Asagoe...

Maria Sharapova overcame a slow start to beat Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi 7-6 6-0 at the Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday.
It was the Russian's first match since losing to Serena Williams in last week's Australian Open semi-finals.


Sharapova received a bye into the second round in Tokyo and the Wimbledon champion struggled in the first set, dropping serve twice before taking control.



The second seed converted her fourth set point to take the tiebreak 7-3 with a crunching for...

Tomorrow Maria will play her second round match at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo against Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela.

The match is the third match on Centre Court and the schedule begins at 11.00 local time (GMT+9). Maria has never played Vento-Kabchi before.

Good luck Maria!